|
"The discovery of the evening was Lizz Wright... who conveyed a degree of spirituality not often encountered among young jazz artists. With her penchant for leisurely tempos, soulful interpretations and gloriously resonant low notes, Wright easily justified the buzz she has been generating in the jazz world." - Howard Reich, The Chicago Tribune
What a difference a day makes. On July 11, 2002, Lizz Wright was just another unknown singer on the bill of a Billie Holiday tribute concert at Chicago's Orchestra Hall. Twenty-four hours later, a new star is born as Wright's mellifluously soulful renditions of "I Cover the Waterfront" and "Don't Explain" leave the packed house starry-eyed.
A week later at the Los Angeles Holiday tribute at the Hollywood Bowl, Wright stole the spotlight again. "The real surprise of the evening" according to veteran Los Angeles Times jazz critic Don Heckman, was "Lizz Wright making her California debut [offering] convincing evidence of her potential as a new jazz vocal star. Slender and dark-eyed, with a radiant sense of self-confidence, she sings with an articulate maturity that surpasses her youth."
Lizz Wright's forthcoming twelve-track Verve debut, Salt, was co-produced by industry legend Tommy LiPuma, top jazz drummer/composer Brian Blade, and arranger Jon Cowherd. Salt's eclectic blend of jazz/pop standards, Lizz Wright's original compositions ("Salt", "Blue Rose", "Eternity", "Fire", "Silence"), and one Broadway showstopper, reveal her to be uniquely gifted with a full-bodied contralto, emotionally-intuitive phrasing, and a yen for quiet-fire drama.
Indeed, from a jazzy soul takeover of Flora Purim's "Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly" to a quietly spiritual rendition of The Wiz's "Soon as I Get Home" to the hushed beauty of "Silence" to the title tune's gritty big band blues, Wright proves to be the consummate interpreter. "I have to be able to live with songs", says Wright. "I live with things I write; I live with things I cover. There's no reason why I can't identify with someone else's experience. I'll listen to it over and over again and I'll just see if my life says it back to me. I was also fortunate to work with people who brought so many different elements."
Salt's brain pool is fathoms deep: Verve Chairman Tommy LiPuma brings decades of Grammy-winning jazz and pop (George Benson, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall) production expertise. Brian Blade has produced two solo albums for Blue Note and currently records and tours with Wayne Shorter and Jon Cowherd is a keyboardist and frequent collaborator of Blade's. Kenny Banks (Wright's Atlanta-based music director) plays piano, Fender Rhodes, and Hammond B-3 organ. The rest of the supporting players (Blade, pianist Danilo Perez, saxophonist Chris Potter, and percussionist Jeff Haynes) are some of the finest young A-listers in music. Wright marvels, "All these amazing people brought what they had and it was such an enlightening experience. It's really magical when you think about it."
Lizz Wright was born on January 22, 1980 in Hahira, Georgia, the youngest of three siblings whose father was a minister and whose mother sang gospel at his services. "I've been singing in church since I was six - I was drafted into it," laughs Lizz. "My brother and sister and I used to sing as a trio when my dad would preach. If we weren't at home doing homework or chores, we were in the car with our parents and on the way to church and different revivals." By the age of fourteen, she taught herself piano well enough to "help my dad in church by playing a little bit."
Houston County High School broadened Wright's musical horizon. "I was in several choirs," she recalls. "I would sing in duet and quartet groups as well. We won several regional and state medals. In my last year, I won a National Choral Award." During this period she also discovered jazz, via Marian McPartland's NPR jazz program.
After graduating high school, she enrolled at Georgia State University in Atlanta. "My major was music performance; I only did one year. When you have a major in vocal performance, you pretty much have to study classical. There wasn't a vocal jazz program and I didn't want to do classical. So on the side I would work with small jazz combos so I could learn standards. That's what I really wanted to do."
In the summer of '98, Lizz relocated 200 miles south to Macon. It was a turning point. "I worked for awhile, and lived by myself. I figured out what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it. I would drive two hours several nights a week to Atlanta just to sit down and hear some jazz. After a bit, I was sitting in at jam sessions." It was at a '99 jam session at Churchill Grounds that Lizz Wright was "discovered" and invited to join the Atlanta band In the Spirit. Within a year's time, Creative Loafing, Atlanta's alternative newspaper, anointed In the Spirit the best jazz group in Atlanta and said of Lizz Wright: "Wright is truly a singer's singer. Her beautiful tone and exquisite phrasing... point to the fact that Ms. Wright may well be Ms. Right. She has it all."
Throughout its history, Verve has particularly excelled in recording many of the fiercest chanteuses on the planet: Billie, Ella, Sarah, Dinah, Nina, Betty, Abbey, Shirley, Dee Dee, Cassandra, Diana, Natalie - so off-the-iconoclastic-genius-meter that they are referred to on a first-name basis. These are the rare ones who could sing anything - jazz to blues to pop - and who owned everything they sang.
It's 2003 and fierce young chanteuses are hard to find, so Lizz Wright's Verve debut is especially encouraging. Though justifiably proud of what has been accomplished so far, she aspires to a higher calling. "Music is my opportunity to let myself remember my spirit. I think of Billie Holiday and Abbey Lincoln - what it means to be a singer. When you address and share your humanity, you really are close to people in a universal sense." Salt - the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Better get used to calling her just "Lizz."
August 2004
Salt [314 589 933-2] available May 13, 2003 on CD.
For more information, contact:
J'ai St. Laurent-Smyth, 212.331.2047 [jai.stlaurent-smyth@umusic.com]
Lauren Fox, 212.331.2021 [lauren.fox@umusic.com]
www.vervemusicgroup.com
European Booking Agent: International Music Network
For Booking in Italy: Emmeci S.R.L.
|